Robert C.
Yelp
1. Sitting in the covered balcony sipping that Mai Tai, watching the sunset over the ocean in your 1052 sq foot luxury condo, surrounded by acres of landscaped tropical gardens.
2. For a third consecutive year we got a livingsocial deal on a luxury condo in Maui, 6 nights for $903 for an oceanview condo at Maui Kamaole. Same condo without the ocean view was $720. Fine print shows additional $153 in mandatory 'vacation protection' and 'cleaning fees', before 15% Hawaii hotel tax. Previously we stayed at Wailea Elua Village and Wailea Ekahi Village.
3. Maui Kamaole is an owner occupied condominum complex of ~130 units, in 13 buildings on ~40 acres of immaculately landscaped hillside, overlooking the ocean. Not all condos will be similarly equipped.
4. We got unit A215, a second story unit, among the closest units to very busy South Kihei road, entrance with a numeric coded lock.
5. Parking is free and by assigned spot, typically next to the condo entrance. Hotels in next door Wailea charge $40 per day valet parking, with the valets expecting to be tipped.
6. Entrance and bedrooms face the parking lot, and living room and balcony face the ocean. 16 stairs to the second floor unit, and another 16 stairs to the top floor with the master bedroom. So, if you don't like stairs, this unit is not for you!
This is a end unit with no neighbors on one side. However there are no windows on the sides of the unit, not even next to the front door entrance. So the rooms are on the dark side.
The 1 bedroom, 1 bath downstairs unit has a small window on the side, and besides the main patio facing the ocean, it has a patio enclosed by three 7' tall walls facing the parking lot.
7. The living room and the two bedrooms each have their own powerful but noisy AC units, cable TVs, ovehead ceiling fans, and balconies. The ocean is visible from not only from the living room, but also the kitchen. The living room balcony is equipped with a patio table and 4 chairs, but no roof for protection from the sun or rain.
The living room has mismatched furniture, and the pull out sofa bed springs sagged in the middle. This was not a problem for us, as nobody sat in the middle of the sofa, only on the sides.
8. Strong wifi, capable of watching videos. Cable TV, but the second bedroom had a CRT TV, that probably came with the condo when it was built a quarter century ago!
9. Downstairs bedroom had two single beds, adjacent to the main bathroom with a bathtub/shower combination. For me my cold water showers dribbled out with half the water going out the bathtub tap. The wife didn't have that problem with her hot showers. You provide your own shampoo.
Wife found the sheets on the master bedroom to be uncomfortable and not of the best quality.
10. The kitchen was fully equipped with dishware , silverware and cooking utensils, along with toaster, microwave, range oven, 4 electric burners, full size but dated refrigerator -no automatic ice maker.
11. My wife watches late night shows on the big flat screen TV in the living room. The noise carries to the open loft area of the master bedroom with its queen bed, relegating me, an early sleeper, to the second bedroom. My wife can't sleep in a single bed -you need pillows on the floor to cushion the fall!
12. Electronic safe large enough to hold a laptop. Dishwasher turned on with 6 days of dirty dishes when we left, with detergent provided. 4 loads of clothes washed on our last day-mainly extra provided beach towels- for the tiny closet washer/dryer -with provided laundry detergent. No housekeeping during our 6 nights here -so unless your mom is here, you have to clean up your own mess!
13. No noise from the neighbors, but these are mainly retired seniors, not your typical Yelpers with late night partying!
14. Outside garbage bin and recycling bins for each building.
15. BBQs in a communal patio next to each couple of buildings. 2 pools, a hot tub, and 2 tennis courts -new nets but they look like they haven't been resurfaced since the complex was built in the late 1980s! Tennis rackets in the closet -similar to the type you buy from Big 5 Sporting Goods for beginners.
16. Usual rules apply: no hanging towels to dry from the balconies, no kids toys in the pool, no playing soccer or frisbee on the vast lawns, no loud music between 10pm and 8am.
17. Lighted concrete paths between the parking lots and each building.
18. We walked 11 minutes 3 times to snorkeling at Kamaole III beach, walked 18 minutes every night to the restaurants at Kamaole shopping center, and once walked 38 minutes to Kihei Foodland, the nearest supermarket. Sidewalks and condo complexes extend a mile in each direction along South Kihei Rd.
19. Add 9 minutes to those times if you get stuck at the top of the hill in the M or F buildings!
20. No more being cooped up for a week on vacation, fighting with the wife for elbow room in your typical 220 square foot hotel room!